Located a little over a mile east-northeast of the Zócalo, the quarry where the ubiquitous pale green stone of the Centro Historico was mined has been turned into a park with a series of ponds set among steep, craggy rock walls, grassy fields, shade trees, and ficus and hibiscus bushes sculpted into the shape of animals, topiary artists having left their mark. What's more, many of the walkways and walls in the park have been built from the very stone of the quarry itself.

It’s hard to believe that as recent as the late 80s the area had a creek with raw sewage running through it, before the city set about cleaning it up, transforming it into perhaps the nicest urban park in the city. There’s also a 1200-seat amphitheater, the Teatro Aire Libre Álvaro Carrillo, carved into the contours of the quarry, with views of the park’s largest, southernmost pond.

It's takes about thirty minutes to walk to the park from the Zócalo. Start out by heading east on Independencia for 8 blocks until it forks off to the left, northeast. Take the fork and continue for a long block until it comes to a large, busy intersection with no less than ten streets converging on it. Take Lázaro Cárdenas (México Highway 175), the large road heading east-northeast, for about half a mile until it comes to a large stadium, Estadio Benito Juárez, on the left, the north side of the road. The park is on the north side of the stadium and can be reached by walking around either side of the stadium. Of course, taking a taxi from the stand on the north side of the Alameda de León is another option.